Monday, April 19, 2010

Bullying: not just something to grow up and get over

Bullying is a feature of many children's lives but is often thought to be an inevitable phase of growing up, something that is down to bad luck, that passes with age and that has few long-term consequences. Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London have been reviewing the evidence on bullying and their conclusions disagree with all these assumptions. They found that being a victim of bullying was linked to certain personal characteristics and family factors, that it can last a long time, that it is associated with severe symptoms of mental-health problems including self-harm, violent behaviour and psychosis and that it has long-lasting effects that can persist until late adolescence.

Arseneault, L., Bowes, L. and Shakoor, S. - Bullying victimization in youths and mental-health problems: 'Much ado about nothing'? Psychological Medicine May 2010, 40(5), 717-729

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